Kitty man slapped with 30-year jail sentence for killing vendor

Timothy McKenzie, the man who was convicted last month of manslaughter over the stabbing death of a vendor, with whom he was once friends, has been jailed for 30 years.

He must serve 25 years before becoming eligible for parole.

McKenzie, 25, of Kitty, Georgetown was found guilty of unlawfully killing 20-year-old Richard Noel, a father of one, on June 4, 2018, at the Stabroek Market in Georgetown.

He had been on trial before Justice Sandil Kissoon and a mixed 12-member jury at the High Court in Demerara for the capital offence of murder.

But the jurors convicted him on the lesser offence of manslaughter. The convicted killer was sentenced on Thursday.

Throughout his trial, McKenzie was represented by defence counsel Ronald Daniels and Kiswana Jefford while State Counsel Muntaz Ali led the case for the prosecution.

According to reports, Noel, called ‘Nippo,’ of Lot 39 William Street, Kitty, was stabbed once in the chest during an encounter with McKenzie over a woman.

The injured man, who was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation in a critical state, succumbed the same day to his injuries.